This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/654,993, filed Sep. 5, 2000, entitled, xe2x80x9cSeparable-Shaft Golf Club,xe2x80x9d now U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,404.
This invention relates generally to golf clubs, and more particularly, to a separable-shaft golf club.
Practice is essential to developing a good and consistent golf game. Many golf enthusiasts enjoy practicing their game at the golf course, driving range, home, and on the road. When a golf player is traveling, he or she must either take his or her personal golf clubs or rent a set of clubs. Traveling with golf clubs, however, is difficult because they are long and cumbersome. When traveling by commercial airplane, they must be checked in the cargo section. While a golfer may only want a few clubs on the trip with which to practice, they are generally too long to fit within a suitcase or other travel bag for convenient transportation. Further, renting clubs is usually undesirable because of the expense and because the length, weight, and feel of the clubs may vary from the golfer""s usual set. The differences may cause the practice session with rented clubs to do more harm than good. The club characteristics can be that important.
The overall weight, balance (or swing weight), flexibility, and the point of flexing of a golf club are all important characteristics to the golfer. The shaft is a major factor in determining all these characteristics. If one of these characteristics is substantially changed on a set of golf clubs, compared to a set that the golfer normally uses, it will interfere with his or her game.
Golf clubs designed for easy transportation have been proposed, but the clubs have not offered club characteristics sufficiently consistent with standard clubs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,006 (Hesser) presents a collapsible, telescoping golf club shaft. Screws are used to hold the shaft in the assembled position and are removed to telescope the shaft for travel. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,923 (Veller) discloses a golf putter that has a step removed in the middle of the putter. The putter shaft ends formed at the break where the step was removed are engaged by a solid screw that is placed in one end and a threaded sleeve in the other. Veller uses an overhanging lip at the resultant joint to provide stability to the assembled putter. Another example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,227 (Dopkowski), which apparently focuses on a variable length shank. Still another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,691 (Hall).
Therefore, a need has arisen for a golf club that is easily transportable that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art. According to the present invention, a golf club includes a first hollow shaft member and second hollow shaft member that are releasably connected by a hollow connector. The hollow connector has a hollow male connector having a first portion and an externally-threaded second portion. The first portion of the male connector is coupled to one of the connecting ends of the shaft members. The hollow connector also has a hollow female connector with internal threads that is coupled to an interior portion of the other shaft member. The threads on the exterior of the male connector are releasably mated with the interior threads on the female connector to provide an assembled golf club that may be disassembled for travel. This separable-shaft golf club has characteristics that are reasonably consistent with a standard golf club.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for making a separable-shaft golf club is provided that includes the following steps: providing a standard hollow steel golf club having a shaft; cutting the shaft of the standard golf club at approximately a middle point of the shaft to form a first shaft member and a second shaft member; coupling a hollow male connector to the first shaft member or the second shaft member so that threads of the second portion of the male connector extend from the first shaft member or second shaft member; coupling a hollow female connector, which has an interior threaded portion sized and configured to mate with the threads on the external portion of the male connector, to the other shaft member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a graphite golf club has a length L and includes a first graphite shaft member having a first end and a second end; a second graphite shaft member having a first end and a second end; a club head coupled to the second end of the second shaft member; a substantially hollow male connector having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion coupled to an exterior portion of the second end of the first graphite shaft member or to an exterior portion of the first end of the second graphite shaft member, and the second portion of the substantially hollow male connector having external threads; a substantially hollow female connector having a hollow first portion and a hollow second portion, the second portion having a threaded interior, the first portion of the female connector coupled to the exterior portion of the first end of the second graphite shaft member or the exterior portion of the second end of the first graphite shaft member; wherein the external threads of the second portion of the substantially hollow male connector are sized and configured to mate with the threaded interior of the substantially hollow female connector to provide a releasable connection allowing the club to have an assembled configuration and a disassembled configuration; and wherein the center of gravity of the golf club in the assembled configuration is within plus or minus 15% of the club length L of the center of gravity of an otherwise identical club having a solid, integral shaft member.